Riverfront Ramble a hit with old, new in ChesterCHESTER — Betty Stinson joined her friend, Anna Mack, for a day along the Delaware River at the city’s Riverfront Ramble, and the two decided they were going to make a day — and a night — of it.
“I love everything,” Stinson, a first-timer at the event, said as she strolled among the numerous tents. “I love all the vendors out here. I love that it’s everything for everybody of all ages.”
Dozens of food booths sported specialties such as Cheryl’s Southern Style, Sweet Nelly’s, the Amish booths, Nora Lee’s Café and the Chester Co-op, and face painting, balloons and jewelry stations were near-by.
James Turner, director of economic development for the Chester Economic Development Authority, said 10,000 to 12,000 were expected to attend the day’s events, spanning from the food and performers in the afternoon through the PPL Energy-sponsored fireworks in the evening.
He talked about the evolution of the event in its seventh year.
“It’s really extraordinary from where we came,” he said. “It started out with 15 vendors. Today, there is 60-plus vendors from all over the place.”
In addition, Turner said he fielded telephone calls from Connecticut through Georgia the preceding week from people interested in attending, and not just for the performances.
“They really wanted to come home,” he said. “This is kind of the end-of-summer family reunion.”
Robin Bryant was one of the first-time business owners who attended a pre-event readiness Entrepreneur Works seminar with Antoinette Truehart.
Bryant inherited Trainer’s Poppop & Gigi’s Fish Fry from her parents and grew up cooking.
Among the three generations and team of 12 family members helping work their booth Saturday was Bryant’s daughter, Tracy Tucker.
“My sister-in-law came here last year and said, ‘Cha-ching, cha-ching,’” she said with a smile about Roseida Bryant.
So, the family brought its $6 catfish, tilapia and whiting sandwiches to the Wharf at Rivertown grounds.
As Tucker hawked the homemade carrot cake, Robin Bryant shared how her parents initially had a boat business in the 1970s, which turned into the April-through-November fish-fry business in the shed next door.
Over the weekend, her goal for being at the Riverfront Ramble was clear.
“I hope to get more business,” Bryant smiled. “This is a taste of it.”
Stinson, wearing a zebra-striped hat, and Mack, donning a leopard-patterned one, expressed gratitude for the celebration.
“It’s necessary,” Mack said, adding she was born and raised in Chester. “It’s real people. This is the type of thing we need in the midst of all this crisis. This is what we need.”
Stinson agreed.
“I appreciate Chester having this,” she said.
Even though they arrived shortly after noon, the two said they had no intention of leaving until after the fireworks at dusk.
“I’m staying,” Stinson said, beaming. “I’m here for it all.”